I finally weigh the motorhome. Leaving for trip soon and want to be ok on axle weights. Front axle with my son in drivers seat 13,480. rated capacity 14,600. total weight all axles together 39,400. I believe the tag has too much air applied. Tag showed 9,780. How do you lessen the air for tag adjust the ride height or what. I had full water and fuel. This does not leave much capacity for a coach with 10,000 load capacity. Front 13,480 Drive 16,140 tag 9780. was not able to weigh corners NO ROOM on scales. Coach seems high in rear by looking at tire elevation above the tires. Had to get hitch drop of 4 inches to connect toad. Both storage bays are behind the front axle. Thanks Larry
Larry,Brenda,Travis,Jarred & MEME the Boston Terror TheBunch 2011 American Coach Revolution 42T The Double Wide
When you head out on your trip, watch for closed weigh stations for trucks along the freeway. Many states leave them on all the time. Some will not have guard rails on the sides so you can do your axles then do the passenger side. That'll give you your individual weights. You are right tho, many scales won't allow corner weighing. Have to work at finding the ones that do.
The question you asked though doesn't ring right. You weigh your coach to find the best pressure for the tires. Under inflation causes overheating and blowouts at speed. A large difference from one side to the other means you should shift your load. The total on the axle tells you how much air you need for the heaviest side/axle...and the same pressure goes in the tire on the opposite side.
If you'd give the brand of tire someone will point you to the proper web site for the manufacturer of that tire that'll tell you the air pressure for your axle weight.
Ride height is adjusted by air bags and such. Not tire pressure. Wouldn't change enough to make any difference over the small range of air pressures you could safely use.
wolfe10 wrote: FIRST, set ride height to chassis manufacturer's specs.
SECOND, re-weight.
THIRD, consider adjusting tag weight-- easy on some chassis, very difficult on others.
These steps are exactly what needs to be done.
If you are on a version of Freightliner chassis, they don't like owners adjusting the tag pressure, so you might need to make a trip to your local Freightliner.
Monaco has an adjustable air pressure regulator so it's real simple. Whithout one and since you said it looks high in the back, I'd decrease the ride height on the tag axle. Often easy to do if it has rubber connections and a steel rod between. Decrease this distance by one inch and see what this does to your weights as you do not have enough weight on the drive axle and too much on the tag. This will decrease the front axle weight too.
This post is my opinion (free advice). It is not intended to influence anyone's judgment nor do I advocate anyone do what I propose.
DO NOT BE UNDER THE COACH WHEN MESSING WITH RIDE HEIGHT VALVES UNLESS COACH IS PROPERLY BLOCKED....YOUR LIFE MAY DEPEND ON IT....Dennis
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Agree about not being under rig when doing adjustments, not much room under there anyway. I believe there is too much pressure on the tag. I had ride height measured when at the factory 8.25 is what they came up with. The manual says 8.5. from my weights it appears that there is too much in the tag. which does put more weight on the front axle. The front is 1.5 inches lower than the rear if you follow a level line down the coach. This coach claims 10,000 lbs payload from sticker. I dont see it with the front axle having this much on it already with no added weight but the driver 210 lbs. Both storage bays are directly behind the front wheels. it wont take much added weight to exceed the front axle capacity as I see it. If of course I am looking at this correctly. I would take the coach to a spartan chassis shop to have any adjustment made as I see no valve or other means to adjust the pressure other than reseting the ride height of the tag. Do you agree to my thinking Thanks Larry
Yes, after verifying ride height, ideal is to have the same percent of GAWR on each axle. As an example, front, drive and tag loaded each loaded to 85% of their GAWR.
Maintaining the proper static ride height adjustment is a critical part of chassis maintenance. The chassis builder specifies this measurement and it should be kept very close to that measurement. There are typically 3 ride height valves, 2 on one axle and 1 on the other. There is no ride height measurement for the tag.
The pressure in the tag axle air bags determine how much weight the tag supports. There is an adjustment valve and gauge somewhere that sets that pressure. The Roadmaster chassis are owner adjustable but others may not be. They are all adjustable hawever. Don't try to adjust the weight the tag is carrying by changing the ride height. It won't work and your will creat another problem.
I agree there should be an adjustable valve somewhere, BUT IF THERE IS NOT then there has to be a ride height valve on the tag axle. Ride height valves adjust the air pressure to keep the height the same reguardless of the weight. When you have two axles working together (drive/tag) decreasing the ride height on a tag axle will decrease the pressure in the tag's airbags (supporting less weight) and increase the pressure in the drive axle (increasing the amount of weight carried).
OP, you need to decrease how much weight the tag is carrying as you are correct that you will not be able to put much in your front bays.
I would want the drive close to 20K and the tag down to 5K. This could take 1,000 lbs off the front axle.
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TheBunch 2011 American Coach Revolution 42T
The Double Wide
